Play Circles in Rainy Days

Wanting to shoot something with representation of Circles, I could barely find any circular subjects at my house except the glasses, cups and mugs.  Wine and beer bottles can be interesting with all that cool graphics on the bottle, but the round top and bottom look empty. So, I thought about my teacups which are hand-made and have some colors.

I wish sun would shine through at some point so that I can use filtered light to generate some depth, but sunlight did not stay long these days, I could not even fetch a little. And misty rain came down again, sparsely but steadily. Where are my circles? Nothing, only rain drops.

Fellow photographers are taking 25-50 shots for a focused stacking close-up shots. It seems to be quite an endeavor, so I decided to trim it down, I took 8-10 shots.  It is definitely better than a single shot with smaller depth of field, but far from the tack-sharp image that I was aiming for. I wish I had downloaded this image earlier... By the time when I wanted to take the 25 shots, the plant had long finished its life cycle for this year. Through photography, my patience is in training and yet, I failed over and over.

Spring will bring me new hope and I am determined to make it happen this time around. For preparation, I did my experiment on cut tulips. This image was stacked with 26 shots.  I got some perfect circles, but they are not as sharp as what I had in mind. I will try 30, 40 or 50 next timer. The more I shoot, the higher my bar has raised and I seem to always falling short.

I thought I could at least find something circular at 5th Street market in town, but not much luck. However, there was a small music band performing in the courtyard. The singer and guitarist are young, but their vocal quality and stage persona are up to the standard. A small crowd was there, but nobody seemed to be willing to make any move. I could not take any pictures without involving many heads and shoulders. So I shoot upwards and these few circles come to my sight. Somehow I found them enchanting. I guess it is the retro ambiance created by the aged wood ceiling, posts and cast irons.

Ordinary days. Circles, the ordinary subjects. But I learned something from doing.

In Retrospect - The Alternatives

A bit less than two years into posting my blogs, I recently have been pondering why I am doing it and what is my short term or long term goals.

I post my blog every Wednesday since I started and I have not broken once. I have been faithful to maintain the integrity of my content, i.e. to tell the true stories behind. Either I share exactly what comes to my mind or where my imagination takes me to. I can sometimes wander and roam without an end, but most of the time, truth comes and it brings me freedom and ease to simply talk about it.

Grab a bit of sunshine in this autumn day.

It has something to do with my family trait and my personality. If I am onto something, I want to do it right and good. The consistent posting forces me to take more pictures and the process has gradually and greatly helped me to unfold the mystery behind the camera, one layer at a time. I am learning every day and there are still mountains of knowledge to be explored. Foremostly I am getting fresh prospective for life through the lens and that is priceless and unspeakable.

In the end of last year, I looked at the pictures I took throughout the year and smiled at considerable amount of them. However, when I am re-examining my efforts one year after, I found less images make it to my faves list.  I realized that I am not as easily pleasing myself any more. I desire to be better, but I have not been devoted and patient enough to follow the steps recommended by the pros. My tripod still looks new and I barely used my remote release. I am always too much in a hurry and I want to change that. I need to yell out each day, patient, patient and patient.

Rainy day? Play with rain drops.

Every once a while, when my inspiration did not flow, but I had to keep up my routine and so I did. In other words, on a few occasions I blogged because I did not want to break my blogging schedule, inspired or not. I did not feel good when that happened. In my whole life, I swear to myself to be truthful, faithful and (close to) perfect in whatever I do. Once I gamed, I was in for excellence and results. That occasional unease bugged me a great deal.

I have not taken enough time to shoot each image like many other great photographers do.  I should assure that I am using the right lens, pre-visualize the shots, take time to compose before I trigger a shot. But I seem to always fire one of too many shots and take too much time going through hundreds and hundreds images afterwards. Greatness does not come by accident. I have repeatedly told myself that I cannot continue doing what I have been doing. I don’t want to shoot many and hopefully some of them will turn out. I want my mind and soul in before I pull the trigger. 

Frosted hay field? I saw morning glory gradually fading out to night solace.

I also like to spend more time working on certain images to add artistic touch or enhancement of any kind. My interest in black and white photography is growing and I want to attack that area as well.

In my weekly practice, I found it easy to write when the images are in place. It is easy to speak the truth and from the heart. At this stage of my life,  I don’t have to think about product designs or business strategies. It is a simple leisure and it is easy to bring pleasure. I enjoyed it immensely whenever my inspiration flows and my pen flies. 

Taking all above into consideration, I may begin to experiment a less frequent posting. Instead of weekly post, I may start to do it bi-weekly. I am not particularly happy with the layout of my blog, but I am not software savvy and preset format does not seem to give me enough freedom to play with. I am bored to post my images in the symmetrical manner (one to the right and the next one to the left :-<) and I plan to look into other options and make changes.

No dramatic sunburst? How about dainty sun sparks?

When there is no way, there will be another way. I cannot remember who is the singer, but her voice seems to stick in my mind. No cozy sunshine, rain just stopped, cloudy and hazy, but there is still Light and rain Drops are sparkling on the leaves. Murky water,? no problem, just Texture and cover it up. When reality is not as pretty, make something for yourself. This is exactly what photography does for me. 

Blogging has forced me to write and daringly, write in my second language. Blogging has provided me the means to share my images and my thoughts. The impact is unmeasurable and I gratefully embrace it.

Rain Drop Thoughts

I am challenging myself to always take new images for my blog. It is the way for me to improve my photography skills.  I collect notes and tips from photography gurus and experts, but end of the day, nobody will hold your hand to set aperture or shutter speed when it comes to your own time and circumstance. I know there is no magic and no instant remedy other than to learn it myself through repetition and practice.

In the last couple of weeks, temperature was low but no snow. Dryness of the year has disappointed many skiers in the area. I don’t ski, but honestly I also hope more snow will come and come soon.  I love that peaceful and soothing white, clean chill, and cheerful surroundings not mentioning what snow would bring, the wild white wonderland.

No snow, I can get by with fog. I always like the simmering look of fog. In fact I have made a few attempt to shoot fog but not too successful. When it was too dense at dawn, I waited. Then I was occupied to engaged in other project, by the time when I put my head up, it vanished. I am having hard time to do one thing at a time, so that one thing slipped away while I tried to hold on two or three things at once. I want some good fog shots and I will, one day, focus on this one thing and accomplish my goal.

I had my mind set on three giant sequoia in front of a school. I have seen them standing in heavy fog and looking like three giant angles floating in the cloud. But this scene has not come back for couple years. I am still waiting....

For this year, I intend to focus more on fine art photography. That means, more macro or close-ups shots and nature theme based. Maybe also getting into some abstract as my inspiration goes. I have to take some artsy shots for my assignments, but what do I shoot? 

Trees and plants are as bare as they can be. Evergreen plants have some green leaves, but what’s special about them, they are here all year around, as boring as it can be.  I could not catch up with fog, snow is long gone, but I must come out something.

Out of desperation, I went out and walked around. Looking harder, looking deeper, still nothing… and I spotted sparkling something under tree limbs and twigs. As a matter of fact, there are a lot, in clusters, gathered around evergreen leaves and deciduous twigs, the rain drops!!!  I had my camera out, macro lens on tripod and on solid ground. Holy cow, there are lots of droplets, too many, and I saw trees in them, the reflection.

Less is more and this is where I began. I wish there are some colors in the surroundings that can be reflected in the droplets, unfortunately it is the season for the reason, bare and lack of luster. Instead of moaning for winter, I added a bit of earth tones to give it a lift, just tints of complimentary colors.

This is exactly my style, casual, natural and understated. We more likely to shoot perfect flowers, the bright and successful side, but I believe portraying truth in various aspect is equally valuable. Furthermore, looking for beauty on ashes.

It was cloudy and I don’t have the best skill and equipment to do the job that I hope for, but it is OK, I am exploring and experimenting. I do what I can. I know I will always learn something from each endeavor.  I like the jewel tone of this one, and I made the background drops more painterly and make the focal point drop more crystal like.

I love crystals over diamond. Both of them are from nature, but monetary value of diamond that people so earnestly pursued makes it unnatural and to me, a symbol of vanity and greed if it is not bond by a sworn commitment, such as used for a wedding ring. The tough and solid nature of diamond is what I appreciate. Glitter and shine will come if a lively relationship sustains. otherwise, it is just a sparkled stone.

So what do you think this is? Christmas is over, but I am getting an ornament and it  is made of water drops. I think it is fun and cool though photo quality is not top notch.  It is a causal occurrence. I tried to shoot one drop out of many. They are all too close that I could not get one crispy clear.  Just because

it is not crisp, it looks like a painted ornament.  If it is not made for original purpose, it will be for something else. If I am not good at something, I will be good at something else. Pondering on this, I feel ease and peace, and contentment.

I left the dead pine cone behind to provide a backdrop. If not for the silent partner behind, the front one won't be the focal point. Don't overlook the quiet in the crowd who can be more profound as you can imagine.

At this moment, I raised my head and I saw the warm and friendly smile. My goodness, Sun was here! it was comforting after days of chill and cloud. I was excited and looking anxiously for the light source, and here they are. I found many beautiful drops, big and small. You know I was just complaining too many drops and they stayed too close for me..... Just like that, I changed my point of view in that split second.I wish I had used F8 instead of F5.6 and have more crispy droplets. But I could not see it through till I have the image downloaded and now Sun is down again.  I usually don't complain much about rain, and I will even do it less after this discoveries.

If I mention that I live in Eugene, people would usually say, lots of rain there, isn't it? Yes, but it usually comes and goes, it would not stay long enough to bore you. Besides, think of the green acres we have here.

There is a study stating that Oregon is the most popular moving- to state last year. Out of total 129,000 moves, 61% of them moved to Oregon. 

I am not kidding. Check it out yourself at http://huff.to/1d6Wpr3

'Rain drops falling on my head...' I heard the song and I saw Butch (Paul Newton) have Etta (Katherine Ross) on his bike, riding along and turning around in the rain.....  Sing along, Oregonians!!!